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Self-organization in natural swarms of Photinus carolinus synchronous fireflies

View ORCID ProfileRaphaël Sarfati, View ORCID ProfileJulie C. Hayes, View ORCID ProfileOrit Peleg
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.26.428319
Raphaël Sarfati
1BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
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Julie C. Hayes
1BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
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Orit Peleg
1BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
2Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
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  • For correspondence: orit.peleg@colorado.edu
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Abstract

Fireflies flashing in unison is a mesmerizing manifestation of animal collective behavior and an archetype of biological synchrony. To elucidate synchronization mechanisms and inform theoretical models, we recorded the collective display of thousands of Photinus carolinus fireflies in natural swarms, and provide the first spatiotemporal description of the onset of synchronization. At low firefly density, flashes appear uncorrelated. At high density, the swarm produces synchronous flashes within periodic bursts. Using three-dimensional reconstruction, we demonstrate that flash bursts nucleate and propagate across the swarm in a relay-like process. Our results suggest that fireflies interact locally through a dynamic network of visual connections defined by visual occlusion from terrain and vegetation. This model illuminates the importance of the environment in shaping self-organization and collective behavior.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 27, 2021.
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Self-organization in natural swarms of Photinus carolinus synchronous fireflies
Raphaël Sarfati, Julie C. Hayes, Orit Peleg
bioRxiv 2021.01.26.428319; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.26.428319
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Self-organization in natural swarms of Photinus carolinus synchronous fireflies
Raphaël Sarfati, Julie C. Hayes, Orit Peleg
bioRxiv 2021.01.26.428319; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.26.428319

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